California's Hilly Nature Preserve An Hour From San Francisco Has Trails, Redwood Views, And Mountain Scenery

San Francisco is well positioned for taking a break in pristine nature. Considering it's one of the world's tech capitals, the City by the Bay still offers plenty of nature escapes for anyone craving a detox from technology or even humanity. If you enjoy hiking, biking, or horseback riding across hilly terrain with ocean and mountain vistas, fields of wildflowers, and dense woodland, Long Ridge Open Space Preserve might be worth your attention.

The 2,035-acre preserve is one hour from downtown San Francisco, providing an accessible oasis for locals and visitors with a car (no commuting here, unfortunately). It's part of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space initiative, which protects over 70,000 acres of open space in the Santa Cruz Mountains between San Francisco, San Mateo, and the South Bay. You get a clear sense of this mountain range's undulating character from the hilly countryside and mountain views within Long Ridge. While this means more uphill sections, you also get the beauty of wildflower-strewn hillsides during springtime. Walking along the tops of these hills, you can also often look out across the mountains, valleys, and the distant Pacific Ocean.

The preserve consistently wins over visitors, with a 4.7-star rating on Google. "Long Ridge Open Space Preserve is one of our favorite weekend getaway locations. There are lots of trails which are very beautiful and can be visited any time of the year [...] A must-visit place if you are looking for some peaceful time with nature," one repeat visitor wrote in a Google review. Regardless of whether visitors choose to hike, bike, or ride on horseback here, the scenery seems to always deliver what they need.

You'll find just over 13 miles of trails at Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. The 4.3-mile Long Ridge Loop is the top-ranked option on AllTrails. It's a good introduction to the preserve, leading hikers and mountain bikers to Peters Creek via a valley with dense, mossy trees. From the creek, you continue up through an apple orchard and past the Jikoji Pond reservoir to Long Ridge Road. This ridge section encapsulates Long Ridge Open Space Preserve's draw. It offers views of protected redwood forests in neighboring state parks, including Big Basin, California's oldest state park with giant, ancient trees.

This route also includes the preserve's iconic Stegner Memorial Bench. The granite bench has been sitting on the hilltop since 1996, honoring Wallace Stegner, a local Pulitzer Prize-winning author and preservationist. Spend a moment sitting and gazing out across the Slate Creek watershed, yet another valley with dramatic redwood forest. If you want ocean and mountain views, walk or ride the Hickory Oak Ridge Trail Loop. This 2.6-mile route includes multiple lookouts, including Turtle Rock, which capture the Santa Clara Valley and surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.

Hikers looking for more of a challenge can combine the Long Ridge section with either the Saratoga Gap or a trek to the summit of Table Mountain. Both are considered hard treks on AllTrails and include significant elevation gains as you walk the 10-plus miles. Table Mountain is particularly rewarding, offering views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. If you choose the Saratoga Gap route, you could take it all the way to the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, another hiking area with ocean views and wildflowers. Afterward, take a 30-minute drive to Los Gatos, California's unsung wine town with Victorian charm, for a post-hike tipple.